On Thursday, August 25, Chowan Campus Ministry hosted Rise Against Hunger as a service event for the campus. In less than a couple of hours, 163 students, employees, and family members packed over 20,000 meals. Engaging students to become Gospel Global Citizens is the aim of Minister to the University Rev. Mari E. Wiles who organized the service event. “Serving together is a great way for our campus community to begin the new academic year.”    

Student Ministry Chaplain, Erica Mock ‘24 shared about the experience, “I had no idea what to expect when arriving at the Rise Against Hunger event, but once we put our hair nets on I knew we were ready to roll. Each table had to establish a rhythm to be able to package the meals in such a short time.” Participants like Erica gathered around stations with funnels to fill packets with rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and a vitamin packet. Each of these nutritious packets when cooked will feed six students.  

Currently, Rise Against Hunger is serving school feeding programs in Haiti, Madagascar, Sudan, and South Sudan, With the Chowan community’s help, the organization will feed lunches to 91 students in one of these locations for an entire school year. Rev. Wiles will be alerted once the boxes arrive at their desired destination, giving students an understanding of the community they are aiding.   

Rise Against Hunger makes this service event a lot of fun for the students. There is good music and every time 1,000 meals are packed someone hits a gong and the crowd erupts in cheering. Mock nicely summed up her experience, “I had an amazing time meeting new people, but more importantly, I enjoyed hearing the gong. It was a reminder that we were helping feed others that are less fortunate.”  

To learn more about Rise Against hunger visit their website www.riseagainsthunger.org. To learn more about Chowan Campus Ministry contact Rev. Mari Wiles at wilesm@chowan.edu.